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Wednesday, 26 June 2013

What genre would you say your novels fall into, or do they defy
classification?

I suspect one reason why I don’t
have an agent is that I don’t specialise in any particular genre. While I’ve
sold more westerns than other genres, my published books are also in the crime,
fantasy, espionage and thriller categories. I have a sci-fi
apocalyptic/dystopian book seeking a publisher, and a pirate novel is in
progress, plus a humorous illustrated book and a non-fiction book about dates…

What made you choose those genres?

I believe a writer should read
widely and not stick to any particular genre. Good stories come from all
genres.

How long does it take you to write a book?

A western takes about a month, while
a complex crime or fantasy book will take maybe six months. I can recommend Write
a Western in 30 Days which provides considerable insight into the
writing process and is not solely about writing westerns.

What is your work schedule like when you're writing?

As I reach the end of the plot
outline, the word-count per writing day increases. I don’t write exclusively
for my own work, so the time has to be rationed as appropriate, to allow for
paid work and private life and commitments.

Where do you get your ideas for your books?

Let me quote from Write
a Western in 30 Days: Plots are relatively easy to think up, it seems.
They must be. More than once I’ve been accosted by a would-be writer saying,
‘I’ve got this great plot for a novel. Will you write it for me?’ Well, no,
thanks, I’ve got more than enough of my own to work on.

I get ideas from newspapers,
magazines, research I’m doing for something else – even from letters to the
editor or an agony column!

When did you write your first book and how old were you?

I think I was about 12 when I
started to write stories in longhand. I wrote my first novel on my Remington
portable when I was about 16.

What do you like to do when you're not writing?

Read, watch films, swim, see
family…

What was one of the most surprising things you learned in creating your
books?

It’s a long time back now, but when
I realised that my characters spoke to me even when I wasn’t at the keyboard,
then I knew they were ‘real’.

How many books have you written?

Twenty-two. Nineteen published.

Which is your favourite and why?

Pain
Wears No Mask because it was in the first person, written by a nun who
used to be a policewoman, and several readers found it surprising to learn it
wasn’t written by a woman!

As a child, what did you want to do when you grew up?

It went in phases – cowboy (Roy
Rogers), spaceman (Dan Dare), Tarzan… then James Bond entered my consciousness
so I wanted to be a spy, until I read Le Carré and realised it wasn’t
glamorous… Oh, I also wanted to join the navy – I did that, and stayed for over
20 years.

What are you working on now?

Blimey. To Be King, a sequel to Wings
of the Overlord, a joint venture with Gordon Faulkner; a western; Catalyst, a book about a female
cat-burglar; Sneeze on a Thursday,
the first in a series about a PI in Los Angeles, Bradbury & Hood, a Victorian crime series and maybe the third
Tana Standish psychic spy thriller, The
Khyber Document – sequel to The
Prague Manuscript and The Tehran
Transmission, both of which are out of print and seeking a new publisher!

BIOGRAPHY

Nik
served for over twenty years in the Royal Navy, appropriately as a Writer, then
went into IT. He has sold many short stories and articles and edited several
books and magazines. He now lives in Spain. In February 2011 he was hired as
the editor-in-chief of the US publisher, Solstice Publishing. Blood of the Dragon Trees is Nik’s 18th
book to be published – since 2007. He writes as Ross Morton, Robert Morton, and
Robin Moreton, among other names.

Also,
this year his books Write a Western in 30
Days and Wings of the Overlord, a
fantasy quest jointly written with Gordon Faulkner, will be published.

Published books
in order of publication

Death at
Bethesda Falls (2007), Pain Wears No Mask (2007), The Prague Manuscript (2008),
Last Chance Saloon (2008), The $300 Man (2009), The Tehran Transmission (2009),
A Fistful of Legends (2009/editor), Assignment
Kilimanjaro (2010), Blind Justice at Wedlock (2010), Spanish Eye (2010), A
Sudden Vengeance Waits (2010), Death is Another Life (2011), When the Flowers
are in Bloom (2011), Old Guns (2012), Bullets for a Ballot (2012), and Odd Shoes and Medals
(2013/ghost-writer).

Monday, 24 June 2013

Sasha from Brixton
needs some marketing advice, she writes:I have written several articles on technology issues, but I’m really
struggling to find outlets for them. Can you help me find markets?

There are two ways to deal with market research. One is to
read several copies of a magazine and then think up an idea that might be of
interest to the editor - taking into account the publication's style and
content. If the editor likes your idea in outline form, you would then write
the article to suit the magazine.

The other way is to think of an idea and then research a
magazine that might be interested in it. This is by far the harder way of doing
things. However, sometimes ideas come to us and we want to write them, so we
have to research for the right outlet.

What you are trying to do is to find a market for existing
articles. This is almost, but not quite, impossible. The articles may well need
substantial rewriting to suit the publication. You might be able to use the
facts, but end up with an entirely different article at the end, depending on
what the editor asks for.

This is why it is so important to query with an outline - so
that you don't waste time and effort on writing an article for which you do not
yet have a market.

With regards to your technology articles, you need to find
magazines that appeal to you as a reader and study the tone and content, then
write an outline using your facts, which you feel would catch the eye of the
editor. If the editor then accepts any of the ideas, you can alter your existing
articles so that they are right for the readership.

Wednesday, 19 June 2013

What genre would you
say your novels fall into, or do they defy classification?

At first I marketed my novel as historical fiction, with no
success. Then I was advised to try contemporary fiction, because the story is
set in a time within living memory, which was how I found Crooked Cat. Since
then I’ve discovered sub-genres such as romance and family saga.

What made you choose
that genre?

I chose no genre! I just wrote my book. The problem of
categorising my work after the fact has been like trying to fit a round peg
into a square hole.

How long does it take
you to write a book?

That’s a good question. My novel took me a total of 40 years
from conception to fruition (but included 28 years of inactivity while bringing
up my family). The cookbook, Museum Mixtures, took about 3-4 months of actual
collation and writing; and the St. Wilfrid’s Church History booklet about 4
months of research and writing.

What is your work
schedule like when you're writing?

Although I like to think I’m a fairly organised person, I
have no fixed schedule. I enjoy a varied life, and plan my writing round voluntary
work, games of tennis, bridge, singing, etc.etc. Some days there is no time for
writing. Others, I can work for hours on end. I guess writing, for me, is a
(serious) hobby and a therapy rather than a job.

Where do you get your
ideas for your books?

My life, work and travel experiences provide an unending
source of ideas and inspiration. I love observing people, imagining what sort
of lives / experiences they’ve had, what might have sparked a sudden bout of
anger, or burst of tears. I am never at a loss for ideas, have numerous
fragments of notes and diaries in my archives, and I only have to start
writing, for a story to take on an exciting life of its own.

When did you write
your first book and how old were you?

Is this a devious way to discover my age! I was in my late
40’s, in the late 1980’s when I wrote a Kenya Museum Society cookbook, Museum
Mixtures, collecting recipes from members and prominent people, and tying them
together with margin snippets of anecdotes and information pertaining to the
museum environment.

What do you like to
do when you're not writing?

I think I’ve almost answered that question above! When I’m
not doing all the other things I seem to have become involved in since my
family left the nest, I turn to writing. My profession is a business adviser
and mentor, and I still enjoy doing that on a voluntary basis twice a week. I
judge dressage 4-5 times a month, which takes me into some fabulous English
country estates in the south, and keeps me in touch with horses, which are my passion.

What was one of the
most surprising things you learned in creating your books?

I learned an important lesson with my first book – never
again would I write a book which is controlled by a Committee! Writing Museum
Mixtures was sheer delight (and it also introduced me to that amazing tool, the
computer). But the editing and production were a nightmare. I’ll say no more.

How many books have
you written?

Three.

Which is your
favourite and why?

Breath of Africa. Writing it has been therapeutic at a
difficult period of change in my life. So much of myself has gone into that
book. It is my own work of art, and Crooked Cat believed enough in the book to
make a valuable commitment. I hope it will turn up trumps for them. The other
two were bespoke and did not require the same intensity of emotion and effort,
even though I am also very proud of them.

As a child, what did
you want to do when you grew up?

To travel round the world was my dream. And I did it. In my
60th year. I did once want to be a ballet dancer –but most girls of my
generation had that aspiration, I think. And anyway, my thighs grew too big too
quickly.

What are you working
on now?

Do you call it work? A novella – the cry of a carer trapped
in a no-win situation. It’s a story that must be told, and I want to get it
over with quickly. Then I will tackle the sequel to BOFA. But it will require
lengthy research, which means going back to Kenya, where two of my children are
now living. Did I tell you my family are the most important thing in my life?
Only one member lives in England, which gives me an excuse to travel.

Jane Bwye has been a businesswoman and intermittent
freelance journalist for fifty years, mostly in Kenya. She has six children and
seven grandchildren, scattered over three continents, so has developed a taste
for travel and has “walked” round the world, buying a bird book in every
country she visits.

Tuesday, 18 June 2013

Gitika from
Birmingham sent this plea for help:I
am a student on a non-fiction writing course and I have to submit articles to
my tutor, but I really struggle to find things to write about. Everyone else
seems to come up with topics easily, but not me. Can you help?

Searching for article ideas can seem impossible, but in
truth there are always new topics to write about.

Listen to the news

The news is a constant stream of information on a variety of
subjects ranging from world affairs to new technology, from celebrity gossip to
climatic disasters, from fashion to religion. Next time you listen to the news,
jot down any item that catches your fancy. It doesn’t matter if you aren’t
knowledgeable on the subject – that’s what research is for.

Discussion groups

Join in forum debates on subjects which interest you. There
is nothing like a healthy debate to get your brain cells working.Keep paper and pen to hand. It might not be
the actual subject which sparks an idea, but a word or phrase used by one of
the other members.

Do bear in mind that anniversary pieces need a longer lead
time than other features, so you would have to query at least six months in
advance.

Search engines

Go on search engine home pages and see which subjects are
currently hot. Look back through the archives and try to find a way to link the
old information with the new to create a different slant. Editors love new ways
of looking at existing ideas.

Read articles written
by others

Read extensively on topics of interest to you. Ideas for new
articles will come to you if you study with a questioning mind. Why has the
author said this? Why did the interviewee say that? What will be the
consequence of his or her actions? Ask yourself the famous W questions: who,
what, where, why and when?

If you question what you are reading, you can get a
different perspective and be able to use someone else’s ideas to spark articles
of your own. Running with someone else’s idea is fine, but never copy their
words, not even if you change them to hide the fact, as that is plagiarism.

Research

Think of a topic about which you know very little (or one
you have a passing knowledge of) but about which you’d like to know more.
Research the subject, read all you can, and then pass that knowledge on in the
form of articles – always looking to find your own way of dealing with the
topic.

Why not make a list of:

•The
problems you’ve encountered recently

•How did you
solve them?

•What makes
you angry?

•What makes
you happy?

•Which TV
shows do you like and why?

•Which ones
drive you insane and why?

•Who do you
know who has overcome adversity and how did they do it?

•Reasons to
make a living will

•Reasons not
to make a living will

•Who is your
least favourite politician and why?

•Holiday
destinations you’d love to visit – good for travel articles

•Funny
things you’ve heard people say

•Odd
coincidences in your life and that of others

If you do just a quarter of the things I have outlined above
you’ll have enough topics to write on for the next year at least.